Photography 2.0: an essay by Jackie Brethen Leishman
on the occasion of Pixelism, an exhibition of works by Brett Sykes at the Thanksgiving Point Art Institute

Photography is often overlooked in the discussion of fine art. Only recently have some photographs demanded the high prices/notoriety the other art forms have enjoyed for so long. Some would argue that photography is not at the same level of painting or sculpture because everyone can take a picture; cameras are so accessible. I would argue so is painting, drawing, and sculpture. Anyone can place paint on a canvas, a pen on paper, mold clay into an object, but is it good? Does it speak a visual language, does it convey a thought, feeling or emotion using the materials at hand? Most often it does not. Photography is no different. Almost anyone can take an image, but how many people actually make an image? There is a subtle difference in the wording but a large chasm between them when it comes to comparing a work of art from a snapshot.


In thinking about Brett Sykes’ Pixelism, the mode of using a camera phone as his artistic medium is too banal. It is too accessible to set apart his work, especially since we live in a world oversaturated with imagery. Almost everyone I meet considers him/ herself some version of a photographer. Then I find out Sykes' images are film stills taken from the television. He has considered consumption, pop culture and technology and I am intrigued. Then I see his images and they are beautiful. It is in the looking, or rather the seeing of his work when I realize he is using this everyday technology and elevating the product of this technology to fine
art and it is fantastic.
 

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Artist Bepe Kafka was kind enough to send this our way:

The Orphan Works Act of 2008 is now being considered in the U.S. Congress. "Orphan Works" are   any copyrighted work whose author any infringer says he is unable to locate with what the infringer himself decides has been a "reasonably diligent search." In a radical departure from existing copyright law and business practice, the U.S. Copyright Office has proposed that Congress grant such infringers freedom to ignore the rights of the author and use the work for any purpose, including commercial usage. This act would limit the copyright owner's ability to recover financial damages from the infringer.

To read more about this bill, go to: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/bills/?billid=11320236

We encourage you to contact your legislators regarding this law. You can find a sample letter at: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/alert/?alertid=11303956. Please be sure to alter at least a few words in your own letter or your letter may be filtered out by legislative assistants.

We encourage artists to maintain a website as a way to keep their artwork reasonably free from being orphaned.

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The Salt Lake Art Center announced this week that their search for a new executive director (see February edition) is at an end. Heather Ferrell, who has most recently served as the Executive Director and Curator of the Salina Art Center in Salina, Kansas, has accepted the position and will assume the directorship at the end of July.

Ferrell, a Utah native, received a BFA in Art, with a dual emphasis in Art History and Photography, as well as a BA in Liberal Arts, from Utah State University in 1994. In 1997 she earned an MA in Art History and Museum Studies, with an emphasis in 20th century Modern/Contemporary Art from the Case Western Reserve University in Clevelan. She has worked both at the Utah Arts Council and the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art in Logan. She also served as the Associate Curator at the Boise Art Museum. Last month she came to town to talk with the Art Center's board and staff as well as with local artists during a meet and greet session.

Ferrell says she is thrilled about her new role. "I was attracted to the Salt Lake Art Center's reputation as an innovative, issues-based institution nationally recognized for its quality, contemporary exhibitions . . . As the new Executive Director, one of my primary goals is to help shape the Art Center into a dynamic focal point for contemporary art, artists, and community." 

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The May 2008 edition of 15 Bytes, chock full of the written, spoken and videotaped word on the visual arts in Utah (not to mention a whole lot of visuals) is now online.

If you've got comments on this month's edition, please share them with us by leaving a comment (see the link below) to this post.

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Gavin Sheehan, another perceptive journalist, recently interviewed 15 Bytes editor Shawn Rossiter. A Logan native, Gavin is a writer/actor who works in the control room at KUTV Channel 2 in Salt Lake. He also maintains a blog on their site called Gavin's Underground.

Gavin lives in downtown Salt Lake and his blog is an "alternative view of Salt Lake City." If you've seen those photos of the destruction of the 337 Project shot from above, those are one of Gavin's views -- from his apartment, next door. Gavin's blog format is generally interview style and covers the gamut of hip things in the city: local bands, comic books, poker tournaments, food, new media and the visual arts all have appeared in recent blog entries. Within the visual arts, Gavin has interviewed Erin Berrett (whose studio was featured in our April edition), Shilo Jackson at Kayo Gallery, Brad Slaugh and Adam Price of the 337 Project.

And of course, 15 Bytes' own Shawn Rossiter. You'll find the interview here:  http://community.kutv.com/blogs/games/archive/2008/04/30/2958664.aspx Those of you who were around for our Spring 2007 fundraiser will remember the photo featured there from one of our pleas for money. We're happy to report that our editor has taken a shower, gotten a shave and haircut and has a full belly. But that doesn't mean we won't shortly be hitting you up for funds. Just that maybe we'll do it with a little more style. Maybe.

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With a gaping hole in its heart now, Sugar House is less of a draw these days than it was in the recent past when galleries, furniture & curio shops and plenty of caffeine distribution centers pulled in a variety of demographics. The demolition of the 21st South and 11th East corner was halted earlier this year when the tear down began to affect the adjacent building -- Rockwood Studios. The residents of the neighborhood are slipping into a collective malaise at the prospect of the demolition area going the way of the Redman Movies building (21st & 13th), which sat half-done for a couple of years before new owners came in and decided to finish the project. 

In the past few years, The Salt Lake Art Design Board has added a number of art projects to the area, including the sugar beets one can find at the library and in the Sugar House Commons and the fish along 21st south. Their newest public art project, funded by the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City, was announced in.

The project consists of six artist-designed benches located throughout the Business District.  Designed and fabricated by Albuquerque artist Eric Thelander, the benches have the appearance of plush patio furniture but are actually cast concrete. They are meant to evoke  Sugar House’s long history of furniture stores, both new and second-hand, but considering the material one can't help wonder if the benches won't make residents and visitors think more of the "hard" times the neighborhood is going through right now.

 

Has anyone out there actually sat on these benches? And are they as cold and uncomfortable as they appear?

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At the Utah Cultural Alliance's April Culture Bytes, a panel of fundraising experts from the community discussed Successful Silent Auctions and Planning Ettiquette. Local artist Steve Sheffield, who has served on the boards of Art Access and Community Nursing Services (Art & Soup) and helped with their fundraising events, participated in the discussion as both an organizer and an artist. We have included below an audio clip of Steve and panel members discussing the relationship between these events and local artists.

Artists&Auctions.mp3

You can hear the full audio of the discussion by going to the Cultural Alliance website and clicking "Culture Bytes." The Utah Cultural Alliance (UCA) is a coalition of individuals and organizations. Their mission is to serve and strengthen the cultural community through advocacy, member services and networking.  Artists of Utah is a member of the Utah Cultural Alliance and encourages individual artists and arts organization to consider joining. Individual membership for artists is $25.  If individual artists join the Cultural Alliance in 2008, Artists of Utah provide them with a free listing in our Artist Directories ($15 value). For UCA membership info: http://www.utahculturalalliance.org/get_involved.html

 

For info on listings in our Artist Directories go to: http://main.artistsofutah.org/modules.php?name=FAQ&myfaq=yes&id_cat=3&categories=FAQs

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On Tuesday we mentioned Julie Checkoway, new features writer for the Salt Lake Tribune, who was kind enough to write an article on Artists of Utah and 15 Bytes. Checkoway has worn a number of hats in her career. She was director for the Creative Writing program at the University of Houston, has written two books, and been a radio reporter for NPR's Morning Edition and This American Life. Her most recent project is the documentary Waiting for Hockney, her first film. The story profiles artist Billy Pappas, who spent 10 years of his life creating an minutely rendered portrait of Marilyn Monroe and his search to show the work to David Hockney.

Yesterday, Doug Fabrizio interviewed Julie on Radio West. Listen to an mp3 broadcast of the interview here.

Waiting for Hockney premieres next Thursday, April 24th at 7:30 p.m. at the Tribeca Film Festival

 

Trailer for Waiting for Hockney

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